Romance in Rye, a very British Affair

A review of our work creating a very English Wedding on the Sussex Coast

For us, the success of our services is the extent to which everything runs smoothly, without appearing stilted or contrived. Character and simplicity are key elements of our design service, creating wedding celebrations which really reflect the personalities and tastes of our clients.

So it was with this in mind that we helped create a romantic weekend wedding for our clients Madeline and Matthew.

An American bride, Madeline wanted to create an elegant, English summer wedding for her husband and guests. The ceremony took place at All Saints Church in Mountfield, near Robertsbridge, which was followed by a reception at the historic and beautiful George Hotel in Rye.

Hand tied English blooms, a vintage head dress, a London underground inspired table name and a goody bag packed with local cider and jams, as well as a book about an American bride in England all helped to create a traditional wedding, with a personal touch.

The Friday before the wedding was busy with lots of preparation for the wedding the following day as well as two events in Rye. Firstly there was a bridesmaid luncheon hosted by Madeline’s grandmother at the beautiful White Vine House in the town to honour the bridesmaids. This was a ladies only luncheon with much happiness and laughter. This was followed by a rehearsal dinner and pub quiz at the historic Mermaid Inn. Everybody left in high spirits looking forward to the next day.

The next day started early for us as we entered the ballroom of The George in Rye which was just full of tables and chairs piled high.

The wedding was to be sophisticated and elegant with an abundance of flowers. A calligrapher had made the elegant name cards for the tables and chairs. The table plan was a take on the London Underground with the tables being an underground line and the guest name in place of stops. We took ribbons the colour of the underground lines and threaded them through the table name cards to make identifying the tables from a distance easier.

The fantastically talented Caroline Grimble and her team got to work on the stunning floral displays which were to dominate the day. The table displays in the ballroom were in beautiful silver bowls that were flown in especially from New York filled with an array of beautiful green and white flowers and foliage.

There was just time to set out the wedding cake and grooms cake before showing the guests to the red routemaster London bus that was to transport them from Rye to the church.

With the trumpeter, organist and wonderful Peasmarsh WI choir in place everything was ready for the arrival of Madeline and her bridesmaids and for the ceremony to begin.

Back at The George everything was in place and looking stunning, the courtyard transformed with cute terracotta pots of flowers and candles as this is where the speeches were to take place. It was also decided that the speeches should be held during the drinks reception so that all involved could then really relax and enjoy the evening.

After the dinner of local salt marsh lamb it was time to party the night away to the best band we at Orchid Weddings have ever come across, Revolution 9. The band were absolutely amazing and as we looked around the room at the end of the evening there was not a single person sitting down – everybody was on the dance floor singing and dancing which honestly was a first!

To read some of Madeline’s views on her wedding see the link of Madeline and Matthew’s wedding which featured in Perfect Wedding Magazine.

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Wedding Planner in Kent

Orchid Weddings is a Kent based company providing wedding design and wedding planning services in Kent, London and the Home Counties. Our experience of planning weddings in Kent, Essex, Surrey, Sussex and London has enabled us to build up close working relationships with many trusted, independent wedding suppliers. We are delighted that our high quality wedding planning service is recognised by the UK Alliance of Wedding Planners.